A Stronger Power
by rebel-penzi
Summary: Alanna, a mysterious and powerful Slytherine girl has started at Hogwarts and taken on a huge responsibility... With her advanced work, her 'responsibility' and Draco she finds her life becoming very hectic....
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: A Stronger Power  
  
Yes, It is true....parts of it anyway. On the night that He Who Must Not Be Named tried to kill the little baby Harry Potter, the spell backfired and he vanished, all his powers diminished. But not many people know that it wasn't only his mother that helped in saving his life.... A land far, from the muggle inhabitants, in the deep magical world, a little 3-month-old baby girl was lying, curled up in a warm cotton blanket, in an old mans arms. The old man was looking down through his half moon spectacles at the little baby, who seemed to be in some kind of shuddering trance. " Sirius, I want you to leave the girl with me. You are to head straight over to James's house and see if they're all right. I don't know what your daughter may be going through, but her powers are incredibly strong for her age, even if she is a nesodeflic, even though they do have stronger powers than most wizards, Alanna also seems to have more." Said Albus Dumbledore. "But Albus, I am afraid of what I'm going to see there. I have never been scared of anything in my life until now. If anything has happened to Lily and James and little Harry. I will never be able to forgive myself. Please take care of my little Alanna." Sirius said gravely. " If anything has happened to the Potters, the Ministry will think that I have done it, as I was their secret Keeper. Everyone thinks I'm connected with the dark side because of my family. " Do not worry yourself, Sirius... not yet anyway. I promise I will take care of your daughter until your return. Be quick now and be safe." "Good bye Albus." And after giving a loving glance to the little girl in Dumbledores arms, he departed through the door and shut it with a snap. And while her father set out on a long journey through the magical world little knowing that he would soon be in Azcaban for the next thirteen years, Alanna shuddered violently in her trance.  
  


* * *

  
"Minerva, It is a great loss yes, loosing the Potters to Voldemort and Sirius in prison, but we must work around it. From the moment Hagrid turned up with Harry on Sirius's old motorcycle, I knew that he had gone to look for Peter. I should've known that Sirius would try to go after Peter, I shouldn't have let him go alone, he was too angry. Harry is now safe at his Aunts and Uncles place, but what are we to do with Alanna now that Sirius is in Azcaban?" Said Dumbledore more to himself than to Professor Magonigal. Sitting behind his grand desk, his skinny finger tips together, thinking hard. "Minervra, do you know what a nesodeflic is?" He asked quietly, looking at the grave looking lady before him. "I have only the faintest idea, all I know is that only 2 are born every thousand years, and they have strong powers." Professor Magonigal said curtly. "Oh, but there is much more. Nesodeflics are indeed born every thousand years, but as there are only 2, they are born at opposite ends of time. One at the start of the thousand years, and one at the end, one a boy and the other a girl. It's to do with the stars.... But what is unusual about Alanna is that her brother was never born. There fore, she shouldn't have been born till the start of the next thousand years. " What does it mean Albus?" " It means that she not only has her own strong powers, but she has also gained her brothers, which means she is twice as powerful as a normal nesodeflic. A normal nesodeflic has the same powers as a witch or wizard; just they are 10 times stronger. Alanna, not only has that, she seems to have every power a wizard can have. I would call her a sorceress. She is the only one that can help Harry in the future. We must keep her safe." Dumbledore said in a tone little more than a whisper, his eyes wide and worried. " She has no reliable family now, Albus. Most of her family are either dead or they are deatheaters, we cant send a little baby, yet alone a nesodeflic to them!! They will make her go to the dark side, and God only knows that's all we need!! A sorceress to work for the Dark side and kill us all. There is no one to keep her!!" Magonigal pointed out sounding worried. " She will be safest here, in the magical world, were I can keep an eye on her and where she can develop her powers. Sirius has made me her godfather.... I think it best if I were to look after her." He said as if it was a very simple answer to a simple question. " But Albus! You have too much work already! You have to keep an eye on Harry and look out for signs of You Know Who and work on how to clear Sirius's name with out getting too involved..... you have no time for a little girl!" "I don't plan on doing it by myself Minervra. I will need help. She can simply stay here over the holidays, that's easy, but we must not let any of the other students know what she is. If the word gets out that she's a nesodeflic while Voldemorts supporters are still on the loose, they will try and kill her. She is the only one that can guide Harry to defeat Voldemort, the only one with enough powers. I will explain all this to her when the time is right, when she is old enough to accept her responsibilities." Dumbledore said in a deciding tone. Magonigal just looked worried, but decided not to question his theories. " But now, we have to arrange the safety of these two children. I want you, Minervra, to take Alanna to Headquarters and give her some food and tell the others the plan. I will in the mean time arrange everything here." Professor Magonigal took the baby gently from Dumbledores arms and disappeared through the door with out a word. Meanwhile, in the just awakening muggle world, little Harry Potter was just being awoken by his Aunts screams as she opened the door to get the morning milk. 


	2. Eleven Year Old Responsibilities

Chapter 2: Eleven Year Old Responsibilities  
  
In a dusky little old room at the back of a rather small mansion, a little girl, about the age of eleven, sat cross-legged on her spindly bed playing with a hole in one of her favourite moth eaten, cotton blankets that lay across her knees. Her long, jet-black hair falling across her face... a face that looked young and fresh, with the same likeness of her father. In fact, much of this little girl looked like her father, the slightly tanned skin, the laughing smile, and the thin frame of her body, and the dark, deep black eyes. But if you happened to look down at this girl's right hand, you would see a long barely visible scar on the palm of her hand that looked like a slash. Although she doesn't know it, she did not get this scar herself, she was still in her mothers tummy when her mother cut herself on her hand so deeply, while making dinner, that you could see the bone. She shared her mother's pain then and always will... "Alanna?" said a smirking voice as a tall skinny man with greasy long hair walked in to her room. "Are you ready?" "Yes, but I don't understand why we have to go so early. You said it won't take so long to get there and yet I don't have to be there till another five hours. Why are we going so early, Professor Snape?" Alanna asked curiously looking up from the bed at Snape. "Because your godfather wants to see you." Said Snape in a voice of forced kindness. " We must therefore leave early. Quick, pack up all your school things in your trunk and bring it downstairs to the front of the house. Mind you don't knock anything over, I don't want my furniture ruined." He added and walked out. Alanna stayed sitting on her bed listening to his footsteps as he went down the stairs. She hated staying with Snape. All the other teachers she didn't really mind, but she hated Professor Snape. She didn't know what she had done to make him hate her, but he certainly seemed to, though she knew that her godfather forced Snape to be nice to her. Thinking that she really should get going, she looked around at her room. It was small and dark, but she didn't mind it. Her bed in the center of the room took up little space with her trunk and a tattered rug at the foot of her bed. Books and papers littered the floor where she had been studying new spells and potions that Snape made her do. With a depressing sigh, she heaved herself off the bed, looked around at her belongings scattered around the room, and with a simple flick of the wrist, they packed themselves neatly in her trunk. And yet with another sigh, and another flick of the wrist, she sent her trunk down the stairs and to the front of the dark house. After glancing once more around the room, she picked up her cotton blanket, wrapped herself in it and strode down the rickety stairs miserably, preparing for a long journey with Snape.  
Out in the yard in the front of the house Snape stood around a broken pot plant, with two trunks waiting impatiently. As Alanna came out the front door he turned and glared at her for a split second then looked behind her at the tall jeering mansion. "I'm ready. Oh...are we going by portkey?" She asked. "Obviously." Snape said shortly, looking down at the pot plant. "We've got five minutes. Arrg!! Stupid gnomes!!" He spat, as half a dozen little potato looking creatures ran out of a nearby bush. " I'll have to deal with them later. This place is so run down, been too busy looking after you these last two weeks, I haven't been able to do much repairs." Grunted Snape looking very sour indeed. "I can look after myself. You don't have to watch me all the time, I do know what is right and wrong." Said Alanna indignantly. "Do you? Do you really know what's right and wrong?" Snape said menacingly, looking fierce, their eyes meeting. Taken aback by his sudden anger at her words, Alanna dropped her gaze. But suddenly she was angry, and the anger swelled inside her every second that past in silence. Yes she is a child, but she isn't a baby, she can do things herself . Everyone acted as if they thought she couldn't do anything, that she was useless and untrustworthy. She was never aloud to go out by herself to play or look around the magical world, never. She looked at Snape who had his back to her, peering into one of the many dead rose bushes that surrounded the house. Gripping her blanket more closely around her, she shuddered, not because she was cold, but because she was full of rage. She turned and sat down on top of her trunk and looked down at her feet, thinking. Snape, meanwhile, was picking off the dry, dead rose heads off the bushes and throwing them absently on to the dark soil. " Get up, It's almost time." He said strictly, not looking at the young girl and moving over towards the portkey. "Get your trunk." " I've got it." Alanna replied curtly, standing next to the dark clad Professor Snape. He picked up the pot plant and held it out to her. With one long skinny finger she touched it. "Three.... two....one" And seconds later both Alanna and Professor Snape felt themselves being lifted into the air in a rush of wind. Spinning and spinning through a haze of colours, they made there way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  


* * *

  
"Ahh, hello Severus, and here's little Alanna!" Said a squeaky little voice as soon as Snape and Alanna had arrived in Dumbledores office. The man with the squeaky voice barely came up to Alanna's chest, but gave her a loving hug anyway. Then he stepped back and looked up into the smiling face of the girl. "I hope you've been practising those summoning charms my dear!" "Hello Professor Flitwick! Yes, I have gotten really good at them now! I made my trunk fly down Professor Snape's stairs, and I didn't use my wand either, just my hands!" Out of all the teachers Alanna thought Professor Flitwick was the cutest as he was so small. "Yes, the whole two weeks she was zooming things all around the house and driving me nuts." Snape said sourly to Flitwick, picking up the pot plant and walking around to Dumbledore who sat behind his desk, smiling his eyes twinkling. " Excellent! I would have liked to see that." Laughed Flitwick good naturedly. "Ahhh, it truly is good to see you again. My, how you've grown in only the last few months since I last saw you! Anyway, I must be off now, got my lessons to prepare!" And turning to face Dumbledore and Snape, he said his goodbyes and, with a last smile at Alanna, he hovered through the door. Alanna walked towards Dumbledore's desk and sat down in one of the soft squashy chairs. Dumbledore turned and looked at Alanna with a twinkling smile. "Professor Flitwick is right you know, how you have grown so much taller." He said softly. "Yes, and has eaten everything in sight. How glad I am that you are at school now Alanna." Snape added. "I must go now Dumbledore. I will indeed talk to you later though. See you tonight then." And with that, he took his wand out and made his trunk float out the door and followed after it. Professor Dumbledore smiled again and said, " I hope you had a good stay at Professor Snape's place?" he said sounding slightly doubtful. "It wasn't too bad actually." Alanna lied. She knew her godfather wanted the best for her and wanted her to be happy, with her father and mother not being around and all. She had never asked about her father, something deep inside her told her that a long time ago something bad had happened to him and she found that she would rather not want to know. And she knew her mother was dead. She had asked Dumbledore about her mother when she was younger, but he never told her. All she remembers is the look on Dumbledores face. The twinkling in his eyes vanishing and his grave out lines were etched firmly in her mind. Yes, she did miss them, and yes... she did cry at times. But only in the darkness so no one knew. " I'm guessing you are getting nervous about tonight?" Said Dumbledore, interrupting her thoughts. "Well.... I am sort of, yeah." Alanna mumbled realising that tonight was going to be the first night at school for her. "What exactly do I have to do to get sorted?" " Oh, you don't want me to spoil the supprise. Wait and see. I dare say you'll enjoy yourself." Dumbledore sat back in his chair and pressed his skinny fingertips together, though not smiling anymore. " Alanna, I want to talk to you about a serious issue. By far I think you are too young to hear what I am going to say, but I must tell you, for you have to know." "That's what every one says, your too young to do this, too young to do that... why doesn't anyone trust me?" Alanna said feeling anger swell inside her again. She sat fixedly in her seat, gazing pleadingly at Dumbledore. "Relax, relax, I am going to tell you.... However Alanna, if you have any questions at all while I am telling you, please do ask them and I will try and answer as best I can." There was a short pause in which Alanna nodded her head and sat back loosely in her soft seat. "Well then, where to start... Alanna, haven't you ever wondered why you can do magic with only using your body and mind?" Dumbledore said. "Er, well yes, but I....er, didn't think it was that unusual. I mean.... I bet many people can do it, can't they Professor?" Said Alanna. The truth was that she hadn't really given any thought to the matter, it had never occurred to her that she didn't need a wand to perform most spells, only potions. Dumbledore smiled again. " Only Nesodeflics can preform magic like that. I take it you have come across to knowing what a nesodeflic is in one of the reading books I gave you?" " Yes, but... this doesn't mean...I can't.... But... Professor this is impossible. I can't be a nesodeflic because I never had a brother! There wasn't one born.... I..." stuttered Alanna. This is impossible, she thought. But yet, something told her that it was true, try as she might to not believe it. She shivered as a cold rush of wind went through Dumbledore's office and felt a surge of power go through her veins. She looked down at her hands, which looked normal, but felt weird, as if they weren't hers. She looked up at Dumbledore and was suprised to see him chuckling. " You see? Do you understand now? You not only have your own powers, but also the powers you gained form your unborn brother. You not only have stronger powers, but you have every power imaginable. All in your body and mind. Now, you may not have all your powers right now, but as you come to age, your advanced magic will form." Dumbledore paused for a moment to look at the shocked face of Alanna, who was lost with words. This is unbelievable, she thought " You have already been studying advanced spells and have been preforming them well, but while you are at Hogwarts, you will take different lessons from all the other students and you will be having private lessons with the teachers to keep your powers in hand. But that is beside the point..." he leaned forward in his chair and looked very serious indeed. " Alanna, while you are at Hogwarts, you will have a very important responsibility. One that I believe you will be able to do. I daresay you remember me talking about a boy called Harry Potter?" all of a sudden a flash went through Alanna's head that showed her a skinny boy her age that had brilliant green eyes and a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt across his forehead. She had never seen this boy before, but felt sure that she knew him and that he was Harry Potter. " Off course I remember. He is in almost every defence against the dark arts book I have read. I know who he is." She said, ignoring her vision. " Then you also have read about his history too?" "Yes." " Then you know that he is still in danger. You know that Voldemort will come back?" said Dumbledore straightforwardly. " Yes." Alanna said more quietly. " I see... in my dreams Voldemort coming.... But he's not himself." "Premonitions, not dreams Alanna. And you obviously know that Harry is still in danger. I need you to help me and the other teachers keep Harry safe. What you do not know is that you and Harry are linked. If Harry wasn't born, you wouldn't have been born. You two are destined to help one another to defeat the Dark Lord. With your powers you are able to see where he is at all times, guide him to safety, and follow him without being seen. That is really important. You must not let Harry or any other person know what you are doing, nor let them know that you have other powers and that you are a nesodeflic or you will put yourself in great danger along with Harry. I know that this is a big responsibilities for a girl your age, but I believe that you have the will to carry out this task." At this, Dumbledore looked straight in to Alanna's bright eyes and she understood. She knew that if she failed in looking after Harry, all wizard kind would be doomed to the dark world. She knew that Harry was the only one that could defeat Voldemort, and if he died, it would be the end of wizard kind. Shocked as she was, she was ready, ready to risk her life, for wasn't that what she was destined to do? The reason of her existence was to be a spiritual guardian to Harry and help the wizarding world. This was her chance to prove herself, that she could do things without failing. Feeling as if she was ten years older, she nodded her head to Dumbledore, unable to speak. She could no longer look into the sparkling bright blue eyes of the man, so instead she looked down at her feet. "I know you are scared, Alanna. I would be too if I had such a big duty to do at such a young age. But I believe in you." Dumbledore said quietly, not taking his steady gaze off Alanna. Alanna did not look up straight away, but when she felt a pair of claws land heavily on her shoulder, she turned and saw a beautiful bird like creature gazing at her. She reached up her hand and stroked the phoenix gently on the head. "Fawks." She said softly, then she looked at Dumbledore and said, " I'm not scared, I can do it." Professor Dumbledore smiled again and got up from his chair. He walked over past Alanna and reached out for a very big and old looking book that was sitting open on a stand. The pictures around the circular room stirred in their frames, all their owners looking curiously at the two figures and the book. Alanna turned around in her chair to get a better look at the book. The title was in a different language, probably Latin, Alanna thought. It said "Demetris Ramous Frier Luthranis" Fawks took off form Alanna's shoulder and went to Dumbledore. As he landed, he gave a short song that rang in Alanna's ears and sent a shiver up her spine. Dumbledore turned the pages of the old book slowly, pausing for a little while at each page and reading a few sentences. There was absolute silence in the room after Fawks's short song and Alanna was starting to get scared. She raised herself off the chair and walked over to her godfather. Looking down at one of the pages of the book she was shocked to see a small 3D-moving model of the planets. The images seemed to be glowing. Actually, she was quite sure that it was real and that if she put her hand on the page, it would disappear into empty space. All of the planets were circling around a model of the sun that was blazing a deep orange-red, just like the sun setting outside on the grounds. She guessed that this was a model of exactly how the planets were moving at this exact time. She looked up at Dumbledore who was reading the page beside it. It said:  
  
The Alignment of the Planets  
  
The Planets form many different shapes and lines that all mean different  
things, but the most powerful position is the Alignment of the Planets.  
This occurs once every century and involves all the planets forming a perfect triangle around the sun. Once every hundred years, a highly magical  
person is born and the Alignment effects only this person, making them react for the worse and bringing out the bad side of this person. In the past hundred years the person is usually known to kill his/hers family and friends just over a little incident and then to take their own life in a most horrific way. The Alignment lasts only 3 days, but the symptoms start  
as soon as the first planet, Jupiter is in place and the others then  
follow. The only way to help the chosen person is by preforming an extremely complex spell that will stop the person being dangerous. But only  
powerful wizards and witches are able to perform it as it has to be performed at the precise second that Mars falls into Venus on the left side of the sun at midnight on the first day. Anytime after or before this time  
the spell will be useless and there will be no other way to stop this  
person. It can be found in the second volume of Demitris Ramous Frier  
Luthranis.  
  
"The last Alignment happened 95 years ago." Sighed Dumbledore looking down at Alanna. Alanna looked up at the twinkling eyes then back down at the book with the moving planets. Fawks gave another short song and ruffled his feathers. "What is this book Professor?" "A very powerful magical object and an interesting read." Dumbledore said good-naturedly and closed it. "Come Fawks, I think you need some food." And he walked over towards a standing perch next to the door and layed Fawks gently down on the branch. After conjuring food for Fawks with his wand, he made his way back over to his desk and sat down with another sigh. Alanna walked back to her chair, but did not sit down. She looked out the window at the slowly setting sun thinking about what she had just read. She thought that it was really weird that Dumbledore had showed her that and she didn't have the faintest idea of what she was supposed to do with it. Then her mind wandered to the night that stood before her. Although she didn't want to show it, she was getting rather nervous and scared. What were all the other students and new comers going to be like? What would her lessons be like? Would her other classmates be very different from herself? Well, that's a stupid question to ask said a voice in her head. Of course they are going to be different, they aren't Nesodeflics are they? They don't have a secret that could kill them do they, she thought. Suddenly aware that everyone in the room was looking at her (including the pictures), she said, "er...so, when do I start to look out for Harry?" "Straight away." Was the reply.  
  
Chapter 3: Looking Out  
  
"Firs' years, firs' years over 'ere!" came a rumbling voice through the raining darkness as students disembarked from the Hogwarts Express. As Hagrid called out for the first years to follow him, Alanna slipped into the crowd that was forming on the platform. She had been waiting in the shadows on the platform for the last half-hour for the train to arrive. "Alrigh' there 'Arry?" Hagrid called over the crowd. Alanna's heart missed a beat. Harry? The Harry she was supposed to look out for? Unable to see him through the many students and steam from the train, she moved towards Hagrid's voice hoping to find him somewhere there. As she struggled through the crowd to get to Hagrid she accidentally bumped into a red headed, tall and lanky boy that didn't seem to have felt her. "Sorry." She mumbled looking past him to the boy standing next to him. A little shorter than the other boy, with black untidy hair, bright green eyes and a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, Alanna remembered him from her vision. Harry Potter. "er...." She said, not really thinking. Now what, she thought franticly. Harry had only looked at her for a split second, then his eyes went back to searching the crowd. Okay... well that's great, Alanna thought. Oh well, at least she had found him that's a good start. "Allo Alanna!" Hagrid interrupted. "Wha' 'r' you up to?" And he winked and smiled down at her. "Hey Hagrid. Umm... I was just...er, trying to get through to you. Where are we going?" Alanna said, changing the subject quickly all though she had the idea that Hagrid knew what she was up to. " Cross the lake. You lot gotta get sorted inter your houses." Hagrid said pointing to a fleet of small boats that lay on the bank. " On'y four to a boat!" He called out over the heads of the new students, climbing into a boat himself. Alanna herself was climbing into a boat and was soon joined by two other students. " Hallo!" said the boy who had a strong Irish accent, pale skin and few freckles. " Me names Seamus." And with a wide grin, he held out his hand to Alanna. Supprised by his openness, she took his hand and introduced herself. " Alanna." She said, then turned to the girl who had long blond hair that was in two plats and shook her hand too. " Hanna Abbot." Said the girl with a sweet smile. " Do any of you know what house your going to be in?" " No one really knows though do they? I mean, you only find out tonight." Said the boy called Seamus. When all the students were safely sitting in their boats, they started to move by them selves, as if there was an invisible person stirring them towards the castle that lay on the other side of the lake. As Hanna and Seamus continued the conversation Alanna sat and listened occasionally saying some thing like 'hmm...' and 'yeah', but not really joining in herself. She felt very different from them, as if they were in one whole separate world. Looking from one to the other, she noticed that they both looked rather nervous, though trying to hide it. As the castle loomed nearer and nearer, Alanna was also starting to feel shaky with nerves. It was true that she didn't really care what house she was put into, but what about all the other students. What would they think of her? She looked up at Hogwarts, with its dark windows and steep turrets thinking about how she was going to spend the next seven years there, learning advanced spells, studying things four times harder than the other students and keeping watch on a boy she doesn't even know. It's gotta be fun, she thought. " Hey Alanna, do you think the teachers are going to give us really hard work in first year?" Hanna asked. " Er... well, yeah, I guess they will. I mean they can't go to slack on us can they?" replied Alanna. And after nodding her head, Hanna turned back and continued her conversation with Seamus. Ten minutes later, all the first years were crowded into a highly decorated room off the side of the huge dinning room, waiting for Professor Magonigal to come back and tell them what to do. Everyone in the room was slightly quiet, to scared to talk. As Alanna weaved her way up to the front, she spotted the red headed boy talking to Harry and moved slowly towards them. Standing a couple of feet away from them she could just hear them talking: " I dunno, but Fred said some thing about restling a troll, but I think he was just saying that to scar me. He's a real joker you know." Said the boy. Harry, who looked like he was going to be sick, didn't say anything. Seeing them up close, she observed them. The boy that was talking was about a head taller than Alanna and his robes were about three centimetres to short and he had a smudge on his nose. Harry, on the other hand, was a bit shorter than the other boy, with very untidy black hair and a pair of circular shaped glasses resting on his nose. Alanna smiled to herself. They looked so comical! " We are ready to receive you now, follow me." Professor Magonigal said sternly, walking out into the candle lit Hall, followed by all of the nervous looking first years. As they entered the Great Hall they saw four long tables with students sitting around them and across the back wall, all the teachers sat, Professor Dumbledore in the very center. A three-legged stool was standing in front of the teachers. On top of it sat a limpy old wizard's hat. Alanna had seen this hat on one of Professor Dumbledores shelves, but she thought that it was just a hat that Dumbledore liked to keep for old time's sake. The noise in the Hall died down and every one was looking at the stool and the hat. Then all of a sudden a rip in the brim opened to form a mouth, and the hat began to sing a rhyming song. As it told about the four Hogwarts Houses, Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherine it also said what qualities are looked for within each house. Griffindor valued the brave and noble, while Hufflepuff took in the kind and caring, Ravenclaw preferred the quick minded and Slytherine took in the power hungry and powerful students. Next to Alanna, a boy whispered to his friend, " I'd hate to be in Slytherine. Every one says that in the time of You Know Who, there was no witch or wizard that was in Slytherine who didn't join him." The hat had finished it's song and Professor Magonigal was now unrolling a thick piece of parchment. " When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and be sorted into your houses.... Abbot, Hanna!" And the girl that was sitting in the boat with Alanna and Seamus stepped forward, looking very nervous, and sat on the stool. The students got one last look at her terrified face, then the hat felt down, covering her eyes. Almost immediately the hat screamed out Hufflepuff, and the table on the far left cheered as she went and joined them, looking very relieved. The list went on... "Finnegan, Seamus...(Griffindor)... Flinch-Fletchy, Justin...(Hufflepuff)...Malfoy, Draco...(Slytherine)" One by one they got sorted into their houses by the sorting hat. Then, " Monteago, Alanna!" Knowing that everyone was watching her, she walked to the stool, trying very hard not to trip as her legs seemed very stiff. She glanced at Dumbledore before she sat down and received a warm smile in return. As she sat down and put the old hat on, and took in one glance at the students all sitting quietly, looking at her. The hat then covered her eyes and all she could see for the next few minutes was complete darkness. A small voice came from the hat and seemed to be talking in her ear. " Ahh, you have power, lot's of power in fact!" said the voice, " though I see the same amount of bravery in you. Hmm...Where do I put you?" " Anywhere, but please just hurry up!" Alanna whispered getting very anxious. " Anywhere huh? You'd be a success in any house as you have many fine qualities. But some how.... well.... I better put you in Slytherine!" And the hat yelled out the last word to the crowed. The table on the far right, next to the entrance, was now cheering her as she walked towards them and took a seat in between two third years. She again looked up at Dumbledore, who was clapping her, though some of the other teachers looked a bit worried. She didn't know why at first, then remembered what she had overheard while standing in the line. Slytherine had turned out more dark witches and wizards than any other house... But seriously, she thought, they can't possibly think that she's bad! These people who had known her since she was a baby, people who had taken care of her! She looked at Professor Flitwick and noticed that he was avoiding her gaze. She would show them, Alanna thought. She wasn't bad or evil, she'll prove to them that not every one in Slytherine is in the dark side! " Potter, Harry!" Professor Magonigal called out, interrupting Alanna's thoughts. As Harry walked over to the stool, Alanna watched, trying hard not to laugh. He looked so scared! When the hat was on his head, Alanna observed him. He was fiddling with his robes and she could faintly hear him saying some thing even though they were very far apart. Listening intently his voice became louder in her head and she was pretty sure that no one else could hear him... only her. "Not Slytherine, please not Slytherine!" He whispered to the hat. Then a few moments later the hat said in a loud voice, "GRIFFINDOR!" and the second table from the left now cheered and Alanna could here some one calling out "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry took his seat next to the red headed boy who also had been sorted into Griffindor and looked quite relieved. The sorting went on... Only ten minutes later though, all the new students were sitting at a table, eating away at the food that had magically appeared before their very eyes. Being so hungry, Alanna helped herself to roast beef, mashed potatoes, fresh corn, gravy, peas, and a goblet full of pumpkin juice. After demolishing three plates of the main meal, she then started on dessert which consisted of pudding, mud cake, white cheese cake, peppermint humbugs, and every flavoured ice cream imaginable. When all the students had been fed and watered, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make a speech. " Just a few of start of term notices: All students, new and old, are to be reminded that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all. Also, the third floor corridor is forbidden to every student who does not wish to die a very painful death." At this, there was a short pause in which some people laughed, but Alanna looked worried. Dumbledore would not joke about anything to do with death... What was he hiding? She had no time to think about this however, as the students were being dismissed and the Slytherine prefects were calling to the first years to follow them. As they did so, they were led down, towards the dungeons, going through dark corridors and hall ways hidden behind large pictures or drapes, until at last they came to a statue of a evil looking warlock with a twisted lip. " The password is Porticello Monte!" said one of the prefects, and the warlock sprang aside, revealing a doorway that opened up to a large room with two crackling fireplaces and blood-red sofa's and chairs scattered around old wooden tables and desks. On the left side of the room were a set of stone stairs that leaded up to the boy's dormitories, while on the right, another set of stairs went up to the girls. It all looked rather dark, but that was probably only because it was night time. It's okay, Alanna thought. The room was actually quite attractive with the elegant drapes and the red carpet. Feeling very tired, she followed some girls up to the dormitory. On one of the doors there was a sign that said 'first years' and she walked through it finding herself in a smaller room with five four poster beds and deep emerald bed sheets neatly made on top. She saw her trunk at the end of a bed that was next to a window and walked sleepily over to it. After undressing and putting on her night things, she climbed into the welcoming looking sheets and fell asleep as soon as her pretty head layed on the pillow.  
  


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" But Pansy, don't you think we should wake her up? I mean, she might miss breakfast if we don't." " Well hurry up! Or we'll miss breakfast!" " Don't worry, I'm already up." Mumbled a sleepy Alanna in a croaky voice. "Thanks though." "Well, are you gonna come to breakfast? Because if you are then we better hurry." Said the girl called Pansy. Climbing out of bed, Alanna picked up her wand from inside her trunk and gave it a quick swish. The bed covers sprang alive and started to fold themselves neatly. She then pulled on her school robes and gave her waist length hair a brush before putting it in a plait. Shoving her wand into an inside pocket, she looked around at the other girls. She could have done all that will a flick of her hand, but Dumbledore had told her to be discreet in her magic and do most thing with her wand, except in emergencies. " Shall we go?" She asked, and without another word, the girls filed down into the common room and up to the Great Hall. As they walked into breakfast the talking of the student met their ears and they joined the Slytherine table, helping themselves to porridge and bacon and eggs. The new class timetable had come and apparently Alanna had Transfiguration first up with the Griffindores. Brilliant! She could start finding out about Harry. As Alanna sat and talked with Pansy and her friends, a tall pale, blond haired and handsome boy came walking towards them. " Hey Pansy, want to introduce me to your friend? Or will I have to do it myself?" He said, fixing Alanna with piercing grey-blue eyes that bored into her deep black ones. When Pansy looked up at the boy who was towering above them, than down at Alanna and didn't say anything, the boy said, " Draco Malfoy." Still fixing her with his gaze, he held out his hand. Alanna took it, but before she could reply her name, he had drew her near to him so that their faces were barely two centimetres apart. He whispered into her ear very quietly, "And I already know who you are." With that, he let her hand go, gave her one last look and walked away with a gang of Slytherine's all standing by the entrance. Alanna looked up at Pansy with a shocked stricken face to see if she had heard, though she doubted it. Pansy obviously hadn't heard anything that Draco had said because she was again busily chatting with her gang of friends and eating. Pushing her plate away, Alanna no longer felt hungry...she felt sick. What did Draco mean? He already knew who she was? Did he only know her name, or.....? She quickly glanced at the entrance were he was standing talking to his friends. As she observed him she noticed that he was very popular, having people around him all the time (lots of them girls). No, he didn't know, he was just a stupid lady's charmer, she thought. And even if he did, she wasn't going to give up her cover that easily. No way, no boy was going to get the better of her, especially this pretty boy. Realising that he was also looking at her through the corner of his eye, Alanna turned her back to him quickly. After shoving her time table into her bag, she left the Slytherine table after saying good bye and walked towards Draco to the entrance. She walked straight past him and towards the grey stone stairs that lead up to the Transfiguration rooms. With her back to him, she walked up the stairs slowly, but she could feel his steady gaze watching her every step............  
  


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"Ron! Ron, we're late for Transfiguration! Cummon, quick!!" Harry said racing up the stone steps, his robes flying, with a very disgruntled Ron Weasly behind him. " I'm going to kill Fred for that prank! That was just NOT funny!" Steamed Ron as he caught up with Harry along the corridor. " I mean, I can understand blood flavoured lolly pops, but acid pops? That's just plain mean." He said spraying spit every where, then opened his mouth and repaired a hole in his tongue. As they walked through into the classroom, the students went quiet and Professor Magonigal fixed them with a stern eye. " You are late, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasly...." " Er.... Yes, well you see Professor, we...." "I don't want to hear excuses. I shall let you go this time, please take your seats and get your quills out." She said, as Harry and Ron gratefully fell into a seat beside a dark haired girl in Slytherine. "As I was saying before Potter and Weasly interrupted, Transfiguration is one of the most complex areas of magic you will have to learn. You will start off with only the small things, like for instance turning a needle into a match, then you will gradually work your way up to larger objects. You will find Transfiguration very helpful in your later life when you leave Hogwarts, as it is needed in most high level jobs. But I must say, anyone who dares to mess around in my class room can leave now and not come back." Magonigal looked at Harry and Ron who sat sheepishly in their seat. This is not a lady to cross, Harry thought. She swished her wand once at the black bored and a set of notes appeared. "I want you to copy out these notes, then come and get a needle off me." She said, then sat down at her big oak desk. For five minutes all there was to hear was the scratching of quills against parchment, then a few students got their needles and started to practise the spell. " Transforgio!" echoed around the room as several students tried, but failed to turn the needle successfully into a match. Harry himself was having lots of trouble, he couldn't even seem to get his flick right. He had noticed, however, that the girl next to him had not done anything. She had not even copied down the notes. Instead she went straight up to Professor Magonigal and started to talk to her. Harry could not hear what they were saying, but he guessed that she probably already knew how to do the spell. Magonigal handed her a large book form inside one of her draws and gave it to the girl who walked back towards Harry and Ron. " Oh and Alanna," she said, " You also might want to try page 73." Nodding her head, Alanna sat down next to Harry who got a glimpse of the book. The title was ' Intermediate Transfiguration for Talented Youths'. Wow, Harry thought, this girl must be good. " Hey Harry, does your needle look anything like a match yet? Cause mine doesn't" Ron asked. " Er, no... don't worry though." He felt extremely stupid at not even being able to preform a simple spell infront of this girl, but she seemed not to have heard them because she did not look up. "Hey, why aren't you doing it?" Ron blurted out to the girl. Harry felt the colour rise in his cheeks as she looked up at them with her black eyes. " I already know how to." She replied nicely, observing Ron. "Brilliant, can you teach us? My names Ron, Ron Weasly and this is Harry. Yeah, you know Harry as in Harry Potter..."He said smiling as Harry also smiled weakly at the girl wishing Ron would stop making an idiot out of himself. " I'm Alanna. And sure I'll teach you. Try holding your wand like this." She showed them the correct way in holding their wands. Feeling relived that the Alanna hadn't blown them off, Harry decided that she was by far the nicest Slytherine around. As the lesson went on, Harry and Ron slowly improved and by the end they had successfully made their needle resemble a match. Ron and Alanna seemed to have formed a good friendship though and by the time the lesson had ended, they were all talking and laughing as they walked out of the classroom. At the Entrance Hall, they departed and went through separate corridors to their next lesson. Over the next week, Harry and Ron felt like their brains were going to explode from an information over load. They had learnt so much already and the homework they got was incredible! " You'd think they'd go easy on us 'cause we're new" Ron said one night while sitting in the Gryfindore common room finishing off an extremely complex potions theory about shrinking skulls. While Harry had made a lot of new friends, he was also aware that he had enemies too. It had become clear to him in the first week that a lot of Slytherines didn't seem to like him. There was one boy, Draco, which Harry detested. Draco Malfoy seemed to go out of his way to cause trouble for Harry, to make his life hell. But there was still that Slytherine girl, Alanna, that was always there when Harry and Malfoy would be close to having a duel in one of the corridors. She would always turn up, as if she knew what they were up to, to sort things out. " This is stupid you two. How many times must I run into you both trying to kill each other? Malfoy, leave Harry alone and for goodness sakes stop fighting both of you!" She had said exasperated after catching them for the second time in one week. Strangely enough, Malfoy would always listen to her and lower his wand and slouch away. Harry was getting quite annoyed with her always butting in though, he would personally have liked to have an excuse to put a hex on Malfoy. But as she was friends with Ron, he said nothing. Besides, he thought, it was probably better that he didn't do anything wrong in the first week. Both Harry and Ron had also made a friend in Griffindor, one called Hermione Granger. Being twice as smart as they were, she would help them with their load of homework every night. So by Friday, they were all tired and very relieved that the weekend had finally come. Although he had only been there a week, Harry felt like he had been at Hogwarts his whole life. He finally felt like he was at home in a place he belonged. Forgetting about his Aunt and Uncle and his miserable life before Hogwarts, he sat in his favourite chair by the fire reading a book he had gotten out of the library about Defence Against The Dark Arts. 


	3. Looking Out

Chapter 3: Looking Out  
  
"Firs' years, firs' years over 'ere!" came a rumbling voice through the raining darkness as students disembarked from the Hogwarts Express. As Hagrid called out for the first years to follow him, Alanna slipped into the crowd that was forming on the platform. She had been waiting in the shadows on the platform for the last half-hour for the train to arrive. "Alrigh' there 'Arry?" Hagrid called over the crowd. Alanna's heart missed a beat. Harry? The Harry she was supposed to look out for? Unable to see him through the many students and steam from the train, she moved towards Hagrid's voice hoping to find him somewhere there. As she struggled through the crowd to get to Hagrid she accidentally bumped into a red headed, tall and lanky boy that didn't seem to have felt her. "Sorry." She mumbled looking past him to the boy standing next to him. A little shorter than the other boy, with black untidy hair, bright green eyes and a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, Alanna remembered him from her vision. Harry Potter. "er...." She said, not really thinking. Now what, she thought franticly. Harry had only looked at her for a split second, then his eyes went back to searching the crowd. Okay... well that's great, Alanna thought. Oh well, at least she had found him that's a good start. "Allo Alanna!" Hagrid interrupted. "Wha' 'r' you up to?" And he winked and smiled down at her. "Hey Hagrid. Umm... I was just...er, trying to get through to you. Where are we going?" Alanna said, changing the subject quickly all though she had the idea that Hagrid knew what she was up to. " Cross the lake. You lot gotta get sorted inter your houses." Hagrid said pointing to a fleet of small boats that lay on the bank. " On'y four to a boat!" He called out over the heads of the new students, climbing into a boat himself. Alanna herself was climbing into a boat and was soon joined by two other students. " Hallo!" said the boy who had a strong Irish accent, pale skin and few freckles. " Me names Seamus." And with a wide grin, he held out his hand to Alanna. Supprised by his openness, she took his hand and introduced herself. " Alanna." She said, then turned to the girl who had long blond hair that was in two plats and shook her hand too. " Hanna Abbot." Said the girl with a sweet smile. " Do any of you know what house your going to be in?" " No one really knows though do they? I mean, you only find out tonight." Said the boy called Seamus. When all the students were safely sitting in their boats, they started to move by them selves, as if there was an invisible person stirring them towards the castle that lay on the other side of the lake. As Hanna and Seamus continued the conversation Alanna sat and listened occasionally saying some thing like 'hmm...' and 'yeah', but not really joining in herself. She felt very different from them, as if they were in one whole separate world. Looking from one to the other, she noticed that they both looked rather nervous, though trying to hide it. As the castle loomed nearer and nearer, Alanna was also starting to feel shaky with nerves. It was true that she didn't really care what house she was put into, but what about all the other students. What would they think of her? She looked up at Hogwarts, with its dark windows and steep turrets thinking about how she was going to spend the next seven years there, learning advanced spells, studying things four times harder than the other students and keeping watch on a boy she doesn't even know. It's gotta be fun, she thought. " Hey Alanna, do you think the teachers are going to give us really hard work in first year?" Hanna asked. " Er... well, yeah, I guess they will. I mean they can't go to slack on us can they?" replied Alanna. And after nodding her head, Hanna turned back and continued her conversation with Seamus. Ten minutes later, all the first years were crowded into a highly decorated room off the side of the huge dinning room, waiting for Professor Magonigal to come back and tell them what to do. Everyone in the room was slightly quiet, to scared to talk. As Alanna weaved her way up to the front, she spotted the red headed boy talking to Harry and moved slowly towards them. Standing a couple of feet away from them she could just hear them talking: " I dunno, but Fred said some thing about restling a troll, but I think he was just saying that to scar me. He's a real joker you know." Said the boy. Harry, who looked like he was going to be sick, didn't say anything. Seeing them up close, she observed them. The boy that was talking was about a head taller than Alanna and his robes were about three centimetres to short and he had a smudge on his nose. Harry, on the other hand, was a bit shorter than the other boy, with very untidy black hair and a pair of circular shaped glasses resting on his nose. Alanna smiled to herself. They looked so comical! " We are ready to receive you now, follow me." Professor Magonigal said sternly, walking out into the candle lit Hall, followed by all of the nervous looking first years. As they entered the Great Hall they saw four long tables with students sitting around them and across the back wall, all the teachers sat, Professor Dumbledore in the very center. A three-legged stool was standing in front of the teachers. On top of it sat a limpy old wizard's hat. Alanna had seen this hat on one of Professor Dumbledores shelves, but she thought that it was just a hat that Dumbledore liked to keep for old time's sake. The noise in the Hall died down and every one was looking at the stool and the hat. Then all of a sudden a rip in the brim opened to form a mouth, and the hat began to sing a rhyming song. As it told about the four Hogwarts Houses, Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherine it also said what qualities are looked for within each house. Griffindor valued the brave and noble, while Hufflepuff took in the kind and caring, Ravenclaw preferred the quick minded and Slytherine took in the power hungry and powerful students. Next to Alanna, a boy whispered to his friend, " I'd hate to be in Slytherine. Every one says that in the time of You Know Who, there was no witch or wizard that was in Slytherine who didn't join him." The hat had finished it's song and Professor Magonigal was now unrolling a thick piece of parchment. " When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and be sorted into your houses.... Abbot, Hanna!" And the girl that was sitting in the boat with Alanna and Seamus stepped forward, looking very nervous, and sat on the stool. The students got one last look at her terrified face, then the hat felt down, covering her eyes. Almost immediately the hat screamed out Hufflepuff, and the table on the far left cheered as she went and joined them, looking very relieved. The list went on... "Finnegan, Seamus...(Griffindor)... Flinch-Fletchy, Justin...(Hufflepuff)...Malfoy, Draco...(Slytherine)" One by one they got sorted into their houses by the sorting hat. Then, " Monteago, Alanna!" Knowing that everyone was watching her, she walked to the stool, trying very hard not to trip as her legs seemed very stiff. She glanced at Dumbledore before she sat down and received a warm smile in return. As she sat down and put the old hat on, and took in one glance at the students all sitting quietly, looking at her. The hat then covered her eyes and all she could see for the next few minutes was complete darkness. A small voice came from the hat and seemed to be talking in her ear. " Ahh, you have power, lot's of power in fact!" said the voice, " though I see the same amount of bravery in you. Hmm...Where do I put you?" " Anywhere, but please just hurry up!" Alanna whispered getting very anxious. " Anywhere huh? You'd be a success in any house as you have many fine qualities. But some how.... well.... I better put you in Slytherine!" And the hat yelled out the last word to the crowed. The table on the far right, next to the entrance, was now cheering her as she walked towards them and took a seat in between two third years. She again looked up at Dumbledore, who was clapping her, though some of the other teachers looked a bit worried. She didn't know why at first, then remembered what she had overheard while standing in the line. Slytherine had turned out more dark witches and wizards than any other house... But seriously, she thought, they can't possibly think that she's bad! These people who had known her since she was a baby, people who had taken care of her! She looked at Professor Flitwick and noticed that he was avoiding her gaze. She would show them, Alanna thought. She wasn't bad or evil, she'll prove to them that not every one in Slytherine is in the dark side! " Potter, Harry!" Professor Magonigal called out, interrupting Alanna's thoughts. As Harry walked over to the stool, Alanna watched, trying hard not to laugh. He looked so scared! When the hat was on his head, Alanna observed him. He was fiddling with his robes and she could faintly hear him saying some thing even though they were very far apart. Listening intently his voice became louder in her head and she was pretty sure that no one else could hear him... only her. "Not Slytherine, please not Slytherine!" He whispered to the hat. Then a few moments later the hat said in a loud voice, "GRIFFINDOR!" and the second table from the left now cheered and Alanna could here some one calling out "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry took his seat next to the red headed boy who also had been sorted into Griffindor and looked quite relieved. The sorting went on... Only ten minutes later though, all the new students were sitting at a table, eating away at the food that had magically appeared before their very eyes. Being so hungry, Alanna helped herself to roast beef, mashed potatoes, fresh corn, gravy, peas, and a goblet full of pumpkin juice. After demolishing three plates of the main meal, she then started on dessert which consisted of pudding, mud cake, white cheese cake, peppermint humbugs, and every flavoured ice cream imaginable. When all the students had been fed and watered, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make a speech. " Just a few of start of term notices: All students, new and old, are to be reminded that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all. Also, the third floor corridor is forbidden to every student who does not wish to die a very painful death." At this, there was a short pause in which some people laughed, but Alanna looked worried. Dumbledore would not joke about anything to do with death... What was he hiding? She had no time to think about this however, as the students were being dismissed and the Slytherine prefects were calling to the first years to follow them. As they did so, they were led down, towards the dungeons, going through dark corridors and hall ways hidden behind large pictures or drapes, until at last they came to a statue of a evil looking warlock with a twisted lip. " The password is Porticello Monte!" said one of the prefects, and the warlock sprang aside, revealing a doorway that opened up to a large room with two crackling fireplaces and blood-red sofa's and chairs scattered around old wooden tables and desks. On the left side of the room were a set of stone stairs that leaded up to the boy's dormitories, while on the right, another set of stairs went up to the girls. It all looked rather dark, but that was probably only because it was night time. It's okay, Alanna thought. The room was actually quite attractive with the elegant drapes and the red carpet. Feeling very tired, she followed some girls up to the dormitory. On one of the doors there was a sign that said 'first years' and she walked through it finding herself in a smaller room with five four poster beds and deep emerald bed sheets neatly made on top. She saw her trunk at the end of a bed that was next to a window and walked sleepily over to it. After undressing and putting on her night things, she climbed into the welcoming looking sheets and fell asleep as soon as her pretty head layed on the pillow.  
  


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" But Pansy, don't you think we should wake her up? I mean, she might miss breakfast if we don't." " Well hurry up! Or we'll miss breakfast!" " Don't worry, I'm already up." Mumbled a sleepy Alanna in a croaky voice. "Thanks though." "Well, are you gonna come to breakfast? Because if you are then we better hurry." Said the girl called Pansy. Climbing out of bed, Alanna picked up her wand from inside her trunk and gave it a quick swish. The bed covers sprang alive and started to fold themselves neatly. She then pulled on her school robes and gave her waist length hair a brush before putting it in a plait. Shoving her wand into an inside pocket, she looked around at the other girls. She could have done all that will a flick of her hand, but Dumbledore had told her to be discreet in her magic and do most thing with her wand, except in emergencies. " Shall we go?" She asked, and without another word, the girls filed down into the common room and up to the Great Hall. As they walked into breakfast the talking of the student met their ears and they joined the Slytherine table, helping themselves to porridge and bacon and eggs. The new class timetable had come and apparently Alanna had Transfiguration first up with the Griffindores. Brilliant! She could start finding out about Harry. As Alanna sat and talked with Pansy and her friends, a tall pale, blond haired and handsome boy came walking towards them. " Hey Pansy, want to introduce me to your friend? Or will I have to do it myself?" He said, fixing Alanna with piercing grey-blue eyes that bored into her deep black ones. When Pansy looked up at the boy who was towering above them, than down at Alanna and didn't say anything, the boy said, " Draco Malfoy." Still fixing her with his gaze, he held out his hand. Alanna took it, but before she could reply her name, he had drew her near to him so that their faces were barely two centimetres apart. He whispered into her ear very quietly, "And I already know who you are." With that, he let her hand go, gave her one last look and walked away with a gang of Slytherine's all standing by the entrance. Alanna looked up at Pansy with a shocked stricken face to see if she had heard, though she doubted it. Pansy obviously hadn't heard anything that Draco had said because she was again busily chatting with her gang of friends and eating. Pushing her plate away, Alanna no longer felt hungry...she felt sick. What did Draco mean? He already knew who she was? Did he only know her name, or.....? She quickly glanced at the entrance were he was standing talking to his friends. As she observed him she noticed that he was very popular, having people around him all the time (lots of them girls). No, he didn't know, he was just a stupid lady's charmer, she thought. And even if he did, she wasn't going to give up her cover that easily. No way, no boy was going to get the better of her, especially this pretty boy. Realising that he was also looking at her through the corner of his eye, Alanna turned her back to him quickly. After shoving her time table into her bag, she left the Slytherine table after saying good bye and walked towards Draco to the entrance. She walked straight past him and towards the grey stone stairs that lead up to the Transfiguration rooms. With her back to him, she walked up the stairs slowly, but she could feel his steady gaze watching her every step............  
  


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"Ron! Ron, we're late for Transfiguration! Cummon, quick!!" Harry said racing up the stone steps, his robes flying, with a very disgruntled Ron Weasly behind him. " I'm going to kill Fred for that prank! That was just NOT funny!" Steamed Ron as he caught up with Harry along the corridor. " I mean, I can understand blood flavoured lolly pops, but acid pops? That's just plain mean." He said spraying spit every where, then opened his mouth and repaired a hole in his tongue. As they walked through into the classroom, the students went quiet and Professor Magonigal fixed them with a stern eye. " You are late, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasly...." " Er.... Yes, well you see Professor, we...." "I don't want to hear excuses. I shall let you go this time, please take your seats and get your quills out." She said, as Harry and Ron gratefully fell into a seat beside a dark haired girl in Slytherine. "As I was saying before Potter and Weasly interrupted, Transfiguration is one of the most complex areas of magic you will have to learn. You will start off with only the small things, like for instance turning a needle into a match, then you will gradually work your way up to larger objects. You will find Transfiguration very helpful in your later life when you leave Hogwarts, as it is needed in most high level jobs. But I must say, anyone who dares to mess around in my class room can leave now and not come back." Magonigal looked at Harry and Ron who sat sheepishly in their seat. This is not a lady to cross, Harry thought. She swished her wand once at the black bored and a set of notes appeared. "I want you to copy out these notes, then come and get a needle off me." She said, then sat down at her big oak desk. For five minutes all there was to hear was the scratching of quills against parchment, then a few students got their needles and started to practise the spell. " Transforgio!" echoed around the room as several students tried, but failed to turn the needle successfully into a match. Harry himself was having lots of trouble, he couldn't even seem to get his flick right. He had noticed, however, that the girl next to him had not done anything. She had not even copied down the notes. Instead she went straight up to Professor Magonigal and started to talk to her. Harry could not hear what they were saying, but he guessed that she probably already knew how to do the spell. Magonigal handed her a large book form inside one of her draws and gave it to the girl who walked back towards Harry and Ron. " Oh and Alanna," she said, " You also might want to try page 73." Nodding her head, Alanna sat down next to Harry who got a glimpse of the book. The title was ' Intermediate Transfiguration for Talented Youths'. Wow, Harry thought, this girl must be good. " Hey Harry, does your needle look anything like a match yet? Cause mine doesn't" Ron asked. " Er, no... don't worry though." He felt extremely stupid at not even being able to preform a simple spell infront of this girl, but she seemed not to have heard them because she did not look up. "Hey, why aren't you doing it?" Ron blurted out to the girl. Harry felt the colour rise in his cheeks as she looked up at them with her black eyes. " I already know how to." She replied nicely, observing Ron. "Brilliant, can you teach us? My names Ron, Ron Weasly and this is Harry. Yeah, you know Harry as in Harry Potter..."He said smiling as Harry also smiled weakly at the girl wishing Ron would stop making an idiot out of himself. " I'm Alanna. And sure I'll teach you. Try holding your wand like this." She showed them the correct way in holding their wands. Feeling relived that the Alanna hadn't blown them off, Harry decided that she was by far the nicest Slytherine around. As the lesson went on, Harry and Ron slowly improved and by the end they had successfully made their needle resemble a match. Ron and Alanna seemed to have formed a good friendship though and by the time the lesson had ended, they were all talking and laughing as they walked out of the classroom. At the Entrance Hall, they departed and went through separate corridors to their next lesson. Over the next week, Harry and Ron felt like their brains were going to explode from an information over load. They had learnt so much already and the homework they got was incredible! " You'd think they'd go easy on us 'cause we're new" Ron said one night while sitting in the Gryfindore common room finishing off an extremely complex potions theory about shrinking skulls. While Harry had made a lot of new friends, he was also aware that he had enemies too. It had become clear to him in the first week that a lot of Slytherines didn't seem to like him. There was one boy, Draco, which Harry detested. Draco Malfoy seemed to go out of his way to cause trouble for Harry, to make his life hell. But there was still that Slytherine girl, Alanna, that was always there when Harry and Malfoy would be close to having a duel in one of the corridors. She would always turn up, as if she knew what they were up to, to sort things out. " This is stupid you two. How many times must I run into you both trying to kill each other? Malfoy, leave Harry alone and for goodness sakes stop fighting both of you!" She had said exasperated after catching them for the second time in one week. Strangely enough, Malfoy would always listen to her and lower his wand and slouch away. Harry was getting quite annoyed with her always butting in though, he would personally have liked to have an excuse to put a hex on Malfoy. But as she was friends with Ron, he said nothing. Besides, he thought, it was probably better that he didn't do anything wrong in the first week. Both Harry and Ron had also made a friend in Griffindor, one called Hermione Granger. Being twice as smart as they were, she would help them with their load of homework every night. So by Friday, they were all tired and very relieved that the weekend had finally come. Although he had only been there a week, Harry felt like he had been at Hogwarts his whole life. He finally felt like he was at home in a place he belonged. Forgetting about his Aunt and Uncle and his miserable life before Hogwarts, he sat in his favourite chair by the fire reading a book he had gotten out of the library about Defence Against The Dark Arts. 


	4. Detention

Chapter 4: Detention  
  
As the term went on and Harry hadn't got remotely into any strife, Alanna was concentrating more on the advanced study the teachers were now loading her up with. Already three months into the school year, the Christmas holidays were soon approaching and the chilling weather was getting worse by the day. Waking up one morning to the howling winds and rain, she felt weird. She didn't know why, but she just did. Every one else in the little dorm had awoken early and gone down to breakfast, leaving Alanna by herself. She didn't mind though. She liked to be by herself so she didn't have to hide her magic. Getting up, she made her bed with a flick of her hand, then dressed. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she ran a comb through her hair, then put it up in a long ponytail. Finally, the last day of term, then the Christmas holidays, she thought quietly to herself. In the Great Hall, she waved to Ron, Harry and Hermione, then sat herself at the Slytherine table next to a fourth year boy that looked like a troll. While helping herself to fruit and cereal, she felt some one looking at her. She glanced up and down the table, seeing nothing, she then looked around the Hall. At the far end of the Hall, Draco Malfoy stood, waiting for his friend to finish his conversation with a Hufflepuff girl. His steady gaze was on Alanna since she had sat down. She glared back at him and could see a mysterious smile twirl on his lips. Dropping her gaze, she looked down at her food and started to eat quickly. She didn't want Malfoy to keep looking at her, it made her feel so uncomfortable. She didn't understand why he was holding his silence. If he really did know what she was, why hadn't he blabbed to everyone? And why was it that he always listened to everything she told him? For instance, when she told him to leave Harry alone, he would always back off. Was he scared of her? Scared that she would use her powers on him? That's stupid, Alanna thought. He'd have to be really thick. Glancing up again, she saw that he was walking towards her, still holding his stare. Alanna decided to hide her fear and insecurity and instead put on an act of stubbornness. Malfoy covered the distance between them quickly, and before Alanna knew it, he was sitting beside her helping himself to some breakfast. She kept her eyes lowered on her plate, pretending to not notice him and continuing to eat her grapes. His friend had sat next to him on the other side and was talking to a boy called Crab who was also in first year. Alanna couldn't resist, so she lifted her head just a little to observe his friend. He was different from Malfoy, having black hair and a tanned complexion. His eyes were a deep hazel and as he flashed a smile, she noticed that his teeth were very white. She noticed also, that his two K-nines were unusually pointy. No way! He can't be....he isn't a...a....! " Yes, I don't believe you've met my friend PJ, have you Alanna?" Draco had caught her looking, and he was now smiling at Alanna, who was taken aback. She recovered quickly however and looked straight into Draco's cool eyes. Hearing his name being mentioned, PJ turned and faced her, flashing another white toothed smile. " PJ, this is Alanna. She doesn't talk much, so that's why you haven't met her before." Draco said. " Hi, How ya doing?" PJ said kindly and winking at Alanna. " Hello." She said politely, returning his smile. She then rounded on Malfoy with an icy tone. " And what would you know about me not wanting to talk or let alone... anything about me?" " Simply because you haven't talked to me since Potions three weeks ago when we had to be partners. And all you said then was whether or not I wanted to stir." He replied in a soft voice, then popped a grape into his mouth. " Maybe that was just you I didn't want to talk to." Alanna snapped. " Mmm..., but you also haven't been talking to much girls in your dorm. You can't possibly hate all of them to can you?" He said with a grape in his mouth. After a silence in which they just looked at each other he said very quietly so that only she could hear, " You don't have to be scared. I just want to talk to you." At this, Alanna couldn't reply. Scared? Of what? She wasn't scared.....or was she? Since she couldn't say anything, she got up from the table and left to go back down to the common room to get her things for class. Almost running out of the Hall, she could feel her heart thumping behind her ribs. Meanwhile, still sitting at the Slytherine table Malfoy turned and looked at his friend with a smile. " So that's Alanna, the one who always stops you from trying to kill Harry?" PJ said. " Yep, that's her. She's driving me nuts." " She's pretty though." " Yeah, but she's a pain. Can't you just bite her and finish her off for me?" Draco said jokingly to his vampire friend. " Ha ha ha. Very funny. You know you like her." PJ said sarcastically looking at his friend. " Or not. I mean, she's cool yeah, but as I said she's painful to put up with." And heaving a sigh, he got up from the table with PJ and made their way to their first lesson of the day which was Charms...  
  
****************************** Professor Flitwick was teaching them levitating charms and soon the class room was full of floating objects that the students had charmed. Harry was getting the hang of this spell quite quickly, but Ron was not doing so well. " Wingardium Leviosa!" This is not working!! Said an impatient Ron, banging his wand on his desk and sending blue sparks everywhere. His feather remained stubbornly still on his desk. " Forget it, I give up." And he slumped back onto his seat looking angry. " Come on Ron, it's not that hard!" Hermione said as she flicked her wand and sent her feather flying. " Shut up." Snapped Ron. " Fine." She replied, annoyed. " If you don't want help..." Alanna, who was sitting close by did not get up or offer any help to neither Ron nor Harry. Although they were still friends, they didn't have time to talk much because of Alanna's work load and the fact that she was doing spells three times their advanced level. At the moment, Alanna was practising the summoning charm under her desk with her wand, making Malfoy's text book come to her. She wasn't supposed to do advanced spells infront of the other students incase it raised to much suspicion, every lesson she was to study the spell out of books and then come back at the end of the day and preform them in an empty classroom. But she was getting bored of all of the secrecy and books. She knew that she could do these spells without even trying. Flipping the pages of Malfoys book, she realised that it was a diary, not a text book. She paused at one of the pages that he had only written three days ago. It read:  
  
Got a letter from father today. He doesn't sound happy with me, thinks that PJ shouldn't be trusted just because he's a vampire. I don't understand why  
father only likes pure bloods. I hate the discrimination, the hate, the cruelty.... everything. PJ's parents are both pure bloods, just he was bitten  
when he was ten...only a year ago. He told me though, that he would keep growing like a normal person, till twenty-one; then he will stay immortal forever. Father thinks that it is dangerous for me to be around him incase he transforms, but he's on special medication that even lets him go into the sun and makes him safe to be around with. Only, at night he goes some where. He hasn't told me where. Father has taken everything away from me,  
including love, but he will never take my best friend.  
  
Alanna snapped the diary closed and zoomed it back to Malfoys desk. He hadn't seemed to notice that it was gone, he was too busy trying to control his feather to float in the direction he wanted it too. Her mind was racing with thoughts. She had no idea that he was so.... In depth. He had seemed so shallow to Alanna, till now. It was like she had forgotten that he was only human. And what about PJ? He was a vampire then? And Draco's father didn't think he was good enough for Draco because he wasn't a normal pure blood.... It was all very confusing. She felt sorry for him in some way. Having to live up to the expectations of his father and still trying to find friends. But he didn't seem to have any trouble in friends, he was actually very popular, not only with the Slytherines. Heaps of girls in other houses were always around him and PJ, talking, laughing, and saying hi and smiling at him in the corridors. He was very mysterious though, but that's probably what the girls liked, Alanna thought. She was definitely going to be nicer to him now. " Home work! Practise on your hovering charms! Next term you should be able to preform it perfectly! Have a good holiday all!" Professor Flitwick squeaked out to the class, as the bell rand and they packed their wands and books away. Alanna saw Draco place the little diary into his bag and walk out of the classroom followed by PJ and a group of other friends. She walked towards Professor Flitwicks desk to get her own home work which turned out to be a foot long essay on how summoning charms could help you in everyday life, then followed out the door. The rest of her day went by with no real disturbance except for peeves the poltergeist trying to trip her on her way down a set of steep stone steps. At the end of dinner, she layed her books across a table close to the fire in the Slytherine common room and started her essay. This is so stupid, she thought. Who cares why summoning charms are used in life? She was getting very frustrated with all these stupid essays that really had no point. As she was the only one at her table, she layed her books and parchment out so she could see them all. No one really talked to her in Slytherine. She had a feeling that they didn't really like her, or that they were scared of her or some thing. She found she didn't really care though. Most of the people just left her alone to do her work...except Draco. At that very moment he walked up to her table and put his bag down in one of the chairs around it. He then pushed aside some of Alanna's books and layed his own books down. Alanna just looked at him, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open. He, however, did not look at her at all, but sat in a seat next to her and started to work. She looked around the common room and noticed that all the other tables had been taken up. Some girls in the corner looked back at her, talking behind their hands to one another. Why couldn't Draco go and sit with them, why her? They would have welcomed him, considering that they were always around him at school. But she decided not to say anything, remembering that she was going to be nice to him. Instead she spread out her books again and continued with her work. After writing a few paragraphs and shuffling some notes, she gave up. She could not concentrate when Draco was always throwing sidelong glances at her out of the corner of his eyes. She stole a quick glance at him, but he was reading a page in a thick book with his brow furrowed and his light eyes concentrating. She went back to her essay. Seconds later, Draco himself stole a glance at her, then went quickly back to his book, flipping the page over. Feeling very awkward, Alanna looked up at him just as he glanced at her again. Their eyes connected. Draco shut his book and tried to talk, but his voice was husky, and he had to clear his throat before starting again. " Er.... If you don't want me here.... I, umm...I can move." Alanna had never seen him uncomfortable before. " No... It's not that. I was just, er... wondering why you didn't sit with Pansy over there." She replied waving a noncaring hand in the direction of the girls in the corner. " Oh. Well, I wanted to sit by the fire. It's really cold. And, well....It's harder to concentrate with all of them chatting away around you." He said, looking more relieved. " And besides, you were sitting here alone and there was more space." " Oh, alright. Okay." It was Alanna's turn to feel uncomfortable now. She started to get up from the table, but Draco held her back. Her head was starting to hurt and her hole body was shaking slightly. " Every time I try and talk to you, you always have to run off. You can't be that busy can you?" He asked, looking at her with his bluish eyes that seemed to be questioning her. " You have no idea." Alanna replied, still standing up. " Then give me an idea." He said quickly, sounding desperate. Alanna just looked at him, then pulled her hand away and gathered up her books. She then left him alone at the table and walked up to her dorm. Her head was aching, but she didn't think it was because of Malfoy. She had felt weird ever since the morning. Dumping her books into her trunk, she got out her night things and started to get changed. After climbing into bed and drawing the curtains around her, she laid awake for what seemed like hours till she drifted off to an uneasy sleep, her head still pounding. She could see Harry. But what was he doing here? It was late at night, he shouldn't be up! Quick, go follow him, she thought. He's in the forbidden forest! But why? It's dangerous for him to be in there all alone. All she could see of him was his cloak as it swished behind tree to tree. Then he disappeared. As she turned a corner on the path, she came into a clearing. What the-? She screamed as a slithering figure floated towards her, all in black with blood running down it's mouth..... " Ahh!" Alanna woke up with a jerk and sat up shaking. "Wow!" She said quietly to herself. Her throat was very dry, so she decided to get a drink of water in the jug by the window. As she was pouring icy water into a glass, she let out another yelp of supprise that was quickly muffled. Her hand! It had turned invisible! All she could see was the jug in mid air, still pouring out water that was now leaking over the floor. But she could still feel herself holding it. She lowered the jug down back on the sill, then put her hand up to her face. She could see right through it and out the window to the lake. Calm down, she told herself, it's alright.... It'll go away soon. But as she watched, more and more of her was turning invisible. The rest of her arm, her legs, waist, and finally she was gone. " Wow!" came her voice from were she had been standing. She couldn't see herself, but she could feel every thing. Dumbledore! She had to go see Dumbledore. He'd know what to do. After grabbing her wand, she raced out the door, which seemed to open by itself, though she could feel her hand around the knob. She ran all the way out of the now empty common room and into the Great Hall. Which way now? She looked around, getting very panicky. But her wand, which seemed to be pointing her towards a statue of a griffin, soon answered that question. As she stood in front of the griffin, which seemed to be glaring at her, she realised that she didn't know the password. This is ridiculous! Pointing her wand towards the griffin she yelled, " Mortifortres!" Her voice echoed around the empty castle as the griffin slowly turned open and reviled a set of spiralling stairs that wound up to a platform with a great oak carved door. As she raised an invisible hand to knock, the door swung open. Albus Dumbledore was looking at her through his half moon spectacles. Or at least Alanna thought that he was, but then she remembered that she was invisible. " Professor! It's me, Alanna... I" " Ah yes, I was wondering when you'd come." Dumbledore said chuckling, opening the door wider and letting her in. " Come, sit down." " But- what, you?" lost for words, she took a seat beside his desk. " I.... I'm invisible!" she stuttered. "What do I do? It just... I just... invisible!" she breathed. But Dumbledore didn't seem as hectic as Alanna. In fact, he was smiling at her, looking very calm, not at all panicky. Alanna had no idea what was going on. " Alanna, your powers are forming. Did I not tell you at the beginning of this term that your powers would form over the years? You have nothing to worry about." He said to her. Alanna would have pointed out that turning invisible at 2:30 in the morning and not knowing what was happening, would worry anyone. " But... how do I come back?" She asked. " The first step is to stop worrying and think about being seen. You will only come back when you truly want to be seen again. You see, Alanna, you now have the ability to turn invisible when you are scared or don't want to be seen. You will come back again when you want to be seen." Alanna thought about letting herself reappear. Looking down at her feet, she could still see right through them, to the red carpeted floor under her. She was still invisible. Come on... try harder... I really don't want to be invisible anymore! She thought desperately. She shut her eyes and pictured herself being seen again. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at her feet again. They were solid! She was back! She looked up at Dumbledore beaming. " That was really scary." She said feeling relieved. " I would imagine it would be. Starting tomorrow you will have lessons with Professor Magonigal to control your new power. I daresay you'll get the hang of it soon." Professor Dumbledore smiled. " It will come in handy in the next week though. That is why it is essential that you control it. Harry has received a detention." " What?! What did he do? I was watching him every day at every lesson I could!" Alanna said supprised. " Yes, but he is just like James. Wondering off at night... You will soon find out what a mischief-maker he is. Mr. Filch caught him on top of North Tower at around midnight. He is serving detention in two nights time." " Well, what do you need me for? It's only detention." " He's going into the forest, Alanna. With Hagrid and some other troublemakers. If anything is after him, it will be the perfect opportunity for them. There is a dark creature roaming the forest at the moment, killing off the unicorns. I have only the faintest idea of what it may be. I need you to follow him and protect him." Dumbledore said very seriously. Alanna's mind rushed. Her dream... it was about Harry in the forest! He can't go! " Professor, if it is so dangerous... why let Harry go?" she asked. " Because he is still a normal child. Voldemort has not yet the power to seek him, and therefore Harry should be safe. It is just a precaution. You must go and also try to find the creature that is not welcome. The animals in the forest will help you." He said. Alanna thought about her dream again. Should she tell Dumbledore? But she didn't want him to think that she was scared. No, she thought. She'll be able to do it. And if she got in to much trouble, she'd simply ask the animals for help... like Dumbledore said. She heaved a huge yawn. All of a sudden she realised that she was very tired and as her eyes drooped, Dumbledore spoke again. " I think it is time for you to get to bed. Holidays tomorrow, you want to be alert for that. Professor Magonigal will see you in the morning." Alanna rose from her seat and made her way to the door. As she reached it she turned around and faced her godfather who was smiling at her. " Goodnight." She said sleepily. " Goodnight, Alanna." He replied, and she walked out the door, back to Slytherine common room.  
  


* * *

  
As Sunday night approached, Alanna took lessons with Professor Magonigal every morning and every evening till she could turn invisible and come back at her own will. It was very hard because sometimes Alanna didn't want to be seen, she often thought about sneaking outside Magionigals office and just roaming around the castle. So with the lessons and extra homework the teachers had given her, Sunday came quickly and brought a fresh wave of cold weather. Alanna spent most of her day inside the library, hiding from the raging winds and rain. She wasn't at all looking forward to her dangerous night ahead in the cold forest. Looking through some books, she found some spells that might help her if there really was any trouble. " Mobilus!" the freezing charm, she thought as she stunned a passing by fly that stoped in mid air. That could be handy, she said to herself. She waved her wand and the fly zoomed away again. Harry, she noticed, was also coming into the library a lot these days that was unusual, as he wasn't the studying type. But he and Ron would pore over huge books with titles like 'Great wizards of the 20th century' and 'Brilliant Minds in Brilliant Times'. Although she decided not to ask them what they were up to, she had a feeling they were heading for more trouble. He didn't seemed worried about the night that lay ahead of him, Alanna didn't think he knew how much danger he could be in. All the same, After dinner, Alanna went back to the common room to get her wand and then headed off to see Professor Dumbledore. She had arranged to see him before she left to follow Harry, to sort out emergency routines. As she sat in his circular office waiting, Fawks sang a breathtaking tune as Alanna stroked him. She shivered. Fawks's songs were always so beautiful, so breathtaking. They made her think about her long lost parents. What they were like and whether or not they knew that she was a nesodeflic. Caught up in her thought, she did not hear Professor Dumbledore slip into the room. He stood behind his desk, but did not say anything till Fawks had finished his melody. He lowered himself into his chair and gazed at Alanna. " Fawks always sings when he is sad." He said quietly. Alanna started and looked up to Dumbledore's smiling face. " But why is he sad, Professor?" She asked. " As a phoenix, Fawks can sense danger before it comes. I do not know what harm he is feeling, but it must be very great for him to sing such a sad tune." Dumbledore sighed looking at the bird that was resting on Alanna's knees. Alanna observed Dumbledore. He looked old, she thought... old, but still strong. A chime went off somewhere in Dumbledore's office. It struck nine, then stopped. She had fifteen minutes before she had to go into the forest. " About tonight, When you are in the Forest Alanna, I want you to be on your guard every second. I do not want you doing any magic yourself, for the risk of you being seen and being found out is too great. If you get into trouble, shoot up red sparks and call to the animals to help you. They will come. I will be able to see the sparks from my window and will come a quickly as possible. But you must also remember, Harry can deal with danger himself. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Harry has his own talent in getting out of trouble. Let him have his turn." Dumbledore said more seriously. " Okay, so I all I have to do is make sure he doesn't get into trouble?" she asked, feeling herself getting slightly nervous. " And how will I call the animals? They won't understand –." " Alanna, Professor Dumbledore, Filch is walking Harry and Hermione to Hagrid's hut now. They just left the castle." Professor Magonigal burst through the oak door, panting as if she had just run up a heap of stairs. Dumbledore rose elegantly from his seat and looked at Alanna. " You must go now. Be quick! And do not be seen!" He hissed, walking in long strides to the door with Alanna. " Turn invisible as soon as you leave the office." He ordered, and waiting for her to go transparent, he turned the doorknob. " Good luck!" And with that, Alanna made her way out on to the icy grounds, feeling very self-conscious. Not even two minutes later, Alanna heard a voice in the wind that was coming by the edge of the forest and she made her way to it. " 'right, Arry an' 'Ermione will come with me. Draco an' Neville go t'gether with Fang. Remember to stay 'n the path, don' go wanderin' away. Forest is dangerous these days..." It was Hagrid. Just in time, she thought. " Alrigh', le's get goin' then." They headed into the forest. Harry, Hermione and Hagrid went on one path, while Draco, Neville and Fang took another. Draco! What was he doing here? She had no idea that Draco was serving detention too... She'll have to find out what for later. She could barely see their outlines as the thick darkness curled in upon them. Both groups went deeper and deeper into the forest, the paths becoming harder to walk through the roots and vines. Walking for almost half an hour with no danger, Alanna was beginning to get board. No one was talking much and as she was invisible, she couldn't exactly pop up and start a conversation. Hagrid on the other hand, had his cross bow infront of him, looking for danger in every corner they turned. Once or twice he stopped abruptly, sending Harry and Hermione crashing into his back. Both of them had their wands lit but even that wasn't very helpful as it only cast a dim light two feet ahead of them. Every thing was very quiet, all there was to hear was the crunching of the dry leave and roots they stepped on. But then out of the darkness rang a frightened yelp and red sparks shot in the air blinding them. Alanna spun around quickly and looked to the lit up sky. The others, they must be in trouble! Her mind was racing. She had to go help them, but she couldn't leave Harry. " Stay 'ere you lot! I'll go an' see what 'appened!" Hagrid said in a slightly panicky voice and trudged through the bushes towards the other path. His footsteps soon faded away and Harry, Hermione and Alanna found themselves in the silent darkness once again. Alanna raised her wand, ready for any trouble. But none came. Although her thin frame was shaking, she could sense that nothing was really wrong and when Hagrids footsteps were again heard after only ten minutes, Alanna drew in a deep breath. " False alarm. It happens tha' this lil' scum thought it migh' be cool to scar Longbottom. I'm sorry 'Arry, but you'll 'ave ter go with Draco 'ere, he'll have a harder time tryin' to scar you." Hagrid puffed, pointing to Draco and glaring at him. " We'll have a harder time tryin' to catch what's in the forest now; af'er the racket you lot made." " Well we best keep trying." Came Hermione's voice, rather shakily, in the darkness. " We can't give up now." " Er right as usual 'Ermione. Get goin' you two, an' be careful 'Arry." Hagrid grunted as Harry and Draco, closely followed by Alanna, set off on a different path. Fang, Hagrids boarhound, roamed behind them; pausing every now and then to sniff a tree root or a leaf. As they moved deeper into the forest the trees got thicker and bigger, making it harder for them to walk, especially Alanna. She had to make sure she didn't make to much noise as she stumbled over roots and vines. It was getting pretty much impossible to do, and she could not risk Harry or Draco finding out that she was there. Pausing for a second, she with drew her wand from her robes and whispered a spell under her breath. " Hovergio!" A charm she had come across in a book that made her float three inches above the ground. She picked up her pace and moved swiftly and noiselessly to catch up with Harry and Draco. It was very weird walking on air. Alanna felt like she was weightless. " This is so cool." She thought to herself. She decided to keep her wand out, incase of any unexpected trouble. Besides, Hagrid wasn't here with his crossbow to help them if they got attacked. The light that was coming from Draco's and Harry's wands was not very helpful to Alanna, and not being able to light her own wand, she found it immensely difficult to wind through the trees without bumping into them. Twice she ran straight into a great oak and scratched herself. Figuring that the only was to prevent it from happening again was to stick close to Draco who was walking behind Harry and Fang. Barely three inches apart, she walked along side him. His face looked very grim and scary half in the shadow. The outlines of his eyes were etched darkly across his face. Though he hid it well, Alanna could see fear in his features. They had been wandering for over half an hour now, coming by nothing out of the ordinary. The path got smaller and the corners got sharper. As the little party ducked and jumped to avoid low hanging branches and high roots, they rounded a corner and found themselves in a small clearing. The trees parted and the moon shone directly above them as they stepped into the clearing. Fang did not follow; instead he sat whimpering just behind a tree. In the very center, a white and beautiful creature lay with its elegant mane and tail spared out before it. It was clearly dead. " The unicorn." Alanna whispered. She had never seen anything so beautiful, yet so sad. She saw the look of wonder on Harry and Draco's face, and was feeling the same thing. How could something this wonderful, be slain? She tightened her grip around her wand as she followed Harry and Draco towards the creature. As they neared it, they could see a gash in the unicorn's throat that was spilling out shimmering silver blood. Alanna's head started to spin. She shook it. Her mind was not working properly; she could hear a soft voice female singing a slow sad tune. She shook her head again. The voice went away, but she could feel some strong force of foreboding. Don't go any closer! Something was telling her that if Harry got any closer to the unicorn..... she rushed and stood three steps infront of him. Who cares if he bumped into her and found out what she was, as long as he was still alive. Harry took a step forward, but paused as a rustling sound came out of one of the near by bushes. Something was crawling along the ground, slithering, using two skinny- clawed hands with long rotten fingernails to put it along. It had a huge black cape on, covering its face. It neared the unicorn and lowered its unseen head. More blood rushed out of the gash on the unicorn's neck as the creature began to drink its blood. Malfoy pulled out his wand and screamed into the darkness. " Explarimmus!" He shouted. His spell missed the creature by just two centimetres. The thing seemed to just realise they were there and raised its head slowly, revealing a dark face with a mouth dripping in blood. Fang gave a loud yelp and disappeared into the darkness. Malfoy stood, stunned at what he was seeing, too afraid to move. Harry, however, had fallen to his knees, clutching his forehead in pain. He could not move. His eyes were watering, his face screwed up in intense pain. The thing rose to it full height and seemed to glide towards them. " Explarimmus!" Malfoy yelled again, this time sending his opponent zooming back only a few feet. The spell didn't seem to have much effect on it. The creature let out a screech, high pitched and deafening. Harry moaned in pain, kneeling on the forest floor. As the creature recovered and came fast at them, it was Alannas turn to yell. " Animalias! Help thou and thou shall be helped!" she screamed to the darkness, as the hooded monster swept ever nearer. She didn't know what she had said, or what made her say it. It was just the first thing that came to her and she knew it would help. As the black figure headed for Harry, Alanna blocked its way by shielding Harry as best she could with a shielding charm that drained her of her power every second she kept it on him. But, as if it were answering her call of help, a centaur came bounding over them and lunged at the black creature. It disappeared in a flash, through the bushes and soon the slithering noise was gone and the forest again was silent. All that was to be heard was the hard thump of the centaur's hooves on the dark forest floor. The last thing Alanna saw was the half horse-half man trotting slowly to them and lowing its head to talk to Harry and Draco, and then everything went blank...... 


End file.
